Andy Leeks
- The Daredevil Who Tried 10 Different Diets in 50 Days
- The Idea and the Challenges
- Selecting the Diets
- Day-by-Day Details
- Special K Diet
- Juice Detox
- Calorie Counting, Grapefruit Diet, Baby Food Diet
- Atkins Diet
- Raw Food Diet
- Cabbage Soup Diet
- Conclusion
The Daredevil Who Tried 10 Different Diets in 50 Days
Andy Loakes, a courageous soul, embarked on a daring mission to try 10 different diets over 50 days in order to find the best one. After the experiment, he shed a significant 13-14 kilograms (29-31 pounds).
Loakes's weight had been creeping up to 101.5 kilograms (224 pounds) with a height of 1.8 meters (5 feet 11 inches), leaving him with an excess of 19-20 kilograms (42-44 pounds). The breaking point came when he was labeled "Big Man" at work. Despite desperate attempts to shed the extra weight, Loakes always fell short, losing interest halfway through new regimens due to sheer boredom.
The Idea and the Challenges
Inspired by an unconventional thought, Loakes conceived the idea of testing 10 different diets over 50 days. The constant variation in his eating plan kept him engaged. Additionally, Loakes struggled with attention issues, and the five-day schedule for each diet fueled his enthusiasm to complete his project.
Selecting the Diets
He carefully selected diets he had never attempted before, resulting in the following list: 5:2 diet; Special K diet, where two out of three meals were replaced with Special K cereals or snacks; Public Health England's Eatwell Guide; juice detox; Atkins diet; raw food diet; baby food diet; calorie counting using a phone app; grapefruit diet; and cabbage soup diet.
Day-by-Day Details
5:2 DietThe 5:2 diet entails drastically reducing calorie intake for two days, followed by three days of regular eating. On fasting days, Loakes consumed tomato soup with a slice of toasted bread (crusts removed) for lunch and a portion of beans and an apple for dinner. "I was worried I'd go overboard on the 'feast' days when I could eat anything," he says. "But surprisingly, I found myself craving nuts and fruit instead of bacon sandwiches." By the end of day five, he had lost almost 2.3 kilograms (5 pounds). However, he later realized he had been following the female version of the diet, restricting himself to 500 calories daily instead of the 600 calories for men.
Special K Diet
Loakes shed a similar amount of weight on the Special K diet, but found it excruciatingly dull. He was certain he could not have continued beyond the five days.
Juice Detox
On the other hand, the Special K diet paled in comparison to the fourth diet: a juice detox. All juices had to be freshly made, which required an excessive amount of time to prepare. "There was no way I could lug 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) of fruit and vegetables into the office every day," Loakes recalls. "Luckily, my boss let me work from home that week." Some of the juices resembled "swamp water" and left his breath smelling unpleasant. He gave up the diet a day early. Notably, he lost 1.8 kilograms (4 pounds), which was the same weight loss he experienced on the third diet, which incorporated plenty of whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and some meat and fish.
Calorie Counting, Grapefruit Diet, Baby Food Diet
The calorie counting diet, the grapefruit diet, and the baby food diet yielded similar results, each shedding less than half a kilogram (1 pound). Loakes despised constantly having to access his phone to enter data. Baby food felt like a sloppy mess, and his love for grapefruit diminished considerably.
Atkins Diet
The Atkins diet focused on consuming eggs, meat, butter, and cheese. In the absence of dairy and sugar, the body resorts to burning fat for fuel. Loakes lost almost 0.7 kilograms (1.5 pounds). The significant downside was the instant boredom and self-pity that accompanied the diet.
Raw Food Diet
Loakes considers the raw food diet to be the worst. "That's when I started to feel really unwell," he says. "My throat became sore. Still, I persevered through the incredibly strict regime of uncooked, whole foods, such as fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and some extras." On the third day of the raw food diet, his sore throat worsened, and he woke up in the middle of the night gasping for air. He ended up in an ambulance. He was diagnosed with an infection, prescribed antibiotics and other medication, but strangely, neglected to tell the doctors how he had landed himself in this state. Two days later, Loakes weighed himself again. He had lost almost 1.4 kilograms (3 pounds). It was difficult to determine how much of this weight loss was attributable to the diet.
Cabbage Soup Diet
No matter how much greenery and spices were added, there was no disguising the fact that you were eating a liquid broth made from cabbage, onion, and water. The Cabbage Soup Diet left Loakes with bad breath and terrible wind.
Conclusion
Reflecting on the experiment, Loakes says, "For the first time in years, I managed to stick to a diet plan for longer than a couple of weeks. In total, I lost 13.8 kilograms (30.4 pounds). For the first time in years, I could see my feet, and my waist size went from 38-40 inches to 34-36 inches."
He felt happy and healthy, but a visit to his doctor revealed a slight increase in his cholesterol levels. The rise in the so-called "bad" LDL cholesterol was caused by the extreme dieting, which had altered his body's delicate balance.
Loakes concluded that the only diet he could realistically sustain in the long term was Public Health England's Eatwell Guide. He advises against replicating his experiment and affirms that after the 50-day ordeal, he will never diet again but simply eat healthily.
